13.5% ABV Salute to Lulu Peyraud of Domaine Tempier in France. Lulu’s father owned the vineyard , and she along with her husband took it over. Sadly we lost her in October 2020 at the age of 102 y/o. This is a blend of old vine Mataro and Grenache. Light salmon color, watermelon initially , later apple. Very nice! — 3 years ago
Had two bottles on Thursday, August 5th. The party had a different dishes including lamb chops, ribeye steak and one had soft shell crabs. Solid wine with some remaining fruit (but in 3-5 years the fruit may have passed), and good amounts of tobacco, cedar and leather. The first bottle was a little green bell pepper, as you would expect with some under ripe cab franc. The second bottle was better integrated, but had fewer fans at the table. — 4 years ago
#AgedWineTuesday
Dark ruby in color with a short reddish rim.
Strong nose of black fruits, cedar, spices, chocolates, coffee, licorice, light vanilla and black pepper.
Full bodied and elegant with medium acidity and long legs.
Dry on the palate with black currants, cooked cherries, tobacco leaf, dark coffee, cedar, earth, dark chocolates, licorice, cola, spices, vegetables, herbs and black pepper.
Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy cherries.
This 17 year old Napa Cabernet Sauvignon feels more like a Left Bank Bordeaux. Fruit forward with nice complexity and a soft mouthfeel.
Showing great complexity and delicious, but I expected more from this great 2007 vintage. I had the 2001 not too long ago, and it was so much better.
Nicely balanced and good by itself or with food. A good food wine too.
A blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot.
14.1% alcohol by volume.
93 points.
$350. — 5 months ago
Very fresh, lively, primarily redfruited aromas and flavors, some spicy notes as well, super nicely balanced, great acid, shows admirable restraint, should age nicely midterm (5-10 years?), very good “entry level” Zinfandel, long finish!! I’d read that the 2023 Zins, grown in a relatively cooler year, had a very long growing season, with excellent acidity, and I’d say this shows all of those characteristics. Morgan nailed this, it was great to finally meet his “adult” version, my wife and I first met him about 35 years ago at a ZAP event at Ravenswood hosted by his father Joel. — 7 months ago
100 year anniversary ... not of the winery, but of the acquisition of the winery by the Cordier family--France is unreal! Deeply extracted, royal purple, opaque, medium plus to full bodied. Red cherry dominated on open but after an hour blackberry has taken over. Spices and a hint of vanilla in the background. Medium plus alcohol 14.5. Medium acidity. Tannins are still biting a bit. Super long length. I would recommend holding this at least another 2-3 years. The tannins will soften, and I suspect we will enjoy some tertiary flavors from the spiced vanilla that remains.
93 points — 3 years ago
1990 vintage. Excellent fill and halfway saturated cork. Used a Durand but surmise a regular waiter's friend, wielded carefully, could have done the trick with the cork. Decanted and tasted after 30 mins, one hour and two hours. Some obvious sed but not troublesome or overtly noticeable. Original owner-château direct on original release. Super cold cellar because this was lagging noticeably behind other '90's and LB's. Bigger tannic structure (for a generally feminine-styled house) than anything save a Latour, Mouton, Ducru Left Bank property. Even more guts than Lynch-Bages or Pichon-Baron '90's currently stored above 55 or so degrees. Surprising but made sense. Light-medium body. Appropriate color. 3-4 years left in this stage unless larger format in play. Slight, fleeting burst of richness in the frontal palate and a tad brickish and then it just flowed on, without speed bumps. A little cocoa powder and cedar/tobacco. Suspect 750ml specimens not stored as cold/religiously will be showing more in the 9.0-9.1 range and farther down the backside of the bell curve. 10.26.24. — 6 months ago
2016 vintage. Last tasted 6.15.24. Still too fleshy for me. Prob need to decant (or open and put back in the reefer for a day or two) for 3 hours to draw out the tannins that, theoretically, should be there. Enjoying the 2006, 2018 and 2019 vintages a bit more currently. **UPDATE**Came across an opened (2/3rd left from last night's party) bottle and retested. Tannins out and looking for nightlife. Upgraded to 9.3 (7.21.24.) 7.20.24. — 9 months ago
This current vintage, 2020, is the best I’ve had over the last few. This funky, crunchy blend of mostly Carignan with a splash of Pais, has been a consistent favorite in my house for its immense drinkability, freshness, and individuality. This wine scratches a specific itch every time. — 4 years ago
Shay A

(Two previous 1983 wine reviews never made it on here, so copying from my CT).
Continuing a run of ‘83s over the last 3-6 months, this not only showed quite well, but it was at its best after almost two hours in the bottle. Whereas the ‘83 Pichon was clean and elegant, this was a bit more dense and powerful. Beautifully expressive aromatics of potpourri, espresso, fig and leather with a flavor profile mostly on the red/black fruit side of the spectrum. The mid-palate showed good weight and continued to bulk-up during the evening. Old cherry-tobacco note at the finish. Honestly, this drank like it was more early ‘90s than it was early ‘80s. Good. — 3 months ago